Hong Kong Jails Three Tiananmen Vigil Leaders

A Hong Kong court sentenced former Tiananmen vigil organisers Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung to seven years and seven years and three months in prison, respectively, for inciting subversion under the Beijing-imposed national security law. Albert Ho, who pleaded guilty, received five years and two months, while the former Hong Kong Alliance was fined HK$1.5 million. The court said the activists’ call to “end one-party dictatorship” constituted a serious offence, although the case involved no violence or specific plan to overthrow the government. The three had led annual vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, gatherings effectively banned after the national security law took effect in 2020. Rights groups, the United Nations and foreign governments condemned the convictions, while Hong Kong authorities and Beijing defended the law as necessary for stability and national security.